Page 11 of Joy Ride

Amber cut her gaze to Joy.“Up to you.”

“Yeah.I gotta do it sometime.Might as well be now.”She took shaky breath so deep her baby roused and blinked her eyes open.Dane was captivated.It was a real, miniature human being that was part Joy and part…

He couldn’t even allow himself to think Arden might be part his.It could destroy him if he did.He’d given up on that dream forever ago.

With a few rubs on the baby’s head, Joy resettled the child.Before leaving, Amber pointed at Walker and then Dane.“I like her.Don’t chase her off or I’ll be pissed.So will Wren and Jordan.You know they’ve been wanting a baby around here to spoil.”

Dane couldn’t help it.He smiled, even if it was faintly.Everyone loved Joy.Including them.That was the problem.“We’ll do our best.”

Amber softened her stern tone when she smothered first him and then Walker in a world-class hug.She whispered something in his best friend’s ear before patting his cheek and leaving the break room, closing the door again behind her.

Outside, their friends began the countdown to New Year’s en masse.Ten…nine…

Dane wasn’t sure he felt like celebrating anymore.Dreaming about the future with Walker was one thing.Actually having it right there within reach and yet impossible to grab, well, that was enough to make him give up for good.

Three…two…one!

Muffled cheers, clapping, and shouts of, “Happy New Year,” trickled into the awkward silence lingering between them.Dane could promise he wasn’t going to forget this one any time soon.

Before he could think of something appropriate to break the ice with, Walker jumped right in.“How did you find us?”he wondered, his tone sharp.

If Joy had tracked them down, that probably meant Angus knew where they were too.

Shit.Dane had hoped they’d have a little more time to fly under the radar before they drew Wildfire’s attention to Middletown.Now that they had gotten attached, it would be awfully hard to move on.In the few short months they’d been at the shop, they’d started to put down roots.Ones he suspected could go deep, if they were allowed to grow.

“Clive.”Joy practically spit the bastard’s name at them.Dane didn’t blame her.

A memory reached out and slapped him back to the past.To their teenaged years.They’d come home late one night after he and Walker had gone to an end-of-summer bonfire, drank too many cheap beers, then stumbled back to Walker’s house since Walker’s parents wouldn’t give a fuck if they were intoxicated.He’d sobered up pretty damn quick when he’d found Joy huddled in the corner on the floor of the bathroom, sobbing.

Her eye had been blackened and her clothes torn.Dried blood left a rusty stain on the inside of her pale thigh.

“Who the hell did this to you?”he’d shouted as his mind blanked out.It was rare that he lost his temper, but in that moment it had only been Walker’s steady hand on his shoulder that kept him from murdering the person who’d harmed her—his innocent girlfriend, and his best friend’s stepsister.

He’d refused to take Joy with them that night despite her begging, because he’d known the party would be too much for her.And look what had happened.It was his fucking fault she’d been left unsupervised with the bikers that always hung out at Walker’s place, part of his father’s motorcycle club.

It was his fault that she’d been abused.Raped.

Even now, he shuddered beneath the force of the rage that flooded him.At Clive, the older guy who belonged to the world he and Walker had only ever hovered on the fringes of.That bastard had claimed to be Joy’s boyfriend for the next several years, and she had never denied it—not to Angus, Walker’s father, not to the rest of the guys in the motorcycle gang, and certainly not to him or Walker.She had never again given Dane the honor of that designation after he’d left her alone and the unthinkable had happened.

After that all bets had been off.

Because being with Clive afforded her protection that being with Dane hadn’t.It sheltered her from the rest of the thugs who hung around when he and Walker ran away from their problems.Dane had never resented her for failing to mention their dates and sweet kisses after he’d so obviously fucked up.

Mostly he was angry at himself.

How had he let that happen to her?All so that he and Walker could indulge in a few hours of meaningless fun.

They’d never recovered.Because every time he heard her screaming after one of her nightmares, or saw her flinch at one of his incidental touches, he knew he’d ruined the future for them both.He didn’t blame her for not wanting him, or trusting him, after that.

A month later he and Walker had been approached by a recruiter.Together, they’d enlisted to make a difference in the world.To right some of the wrongs they’d been responsible for and escape the path they were on, which could only lead to darker deeds done for Walker’s father in the name of Wildfire.

They left Joy the hell alone.

Dane had loved her with all his heart, but that hadn’t been enough to make her happy or keep her safe.He wouldn’t make that mistake again.Not now that he and Walker had complicated her life even further and left her carrying the weight of their poor decisions.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t take care of her as best he could without involving his emotions, though.He stepped between her and Walker before his friend could launch a complete interrogation.The last thing he wanted was to scare her off.If she ran, she wouldn’t even have what little security they could afford her.“It seems like you’ve had a rough few days.Can you jot down anything you might need so I can let Amber know, then we’ll get you settled so you can rest.We can discuss this more in the morning.”

“I’m still not sure…” Joy eyed the door.

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